Newly elected Utah House Speaker Greg Curtis will join a law firm known for representing some of the biggest land developers in Utah.
But Curtis, R-Sandy, who becomes speaker next week, says there should be no conflicts of interest because the firm "has no lobbyists before the Legislature and shouldn't be lobbying" the Legislature.
Created earlier this month, the firm of Hutchings, Baird & Jones will be appearing before local cities and counties and suing if necessary on behalf of residential homebuilding clients. Some of their clients include Ivory Development, Anderson Development, Woodbury homes and Garbett Homes.
In fact, former 3rd District Judge Michael Hutchings, who is joining Bruce Baird and Michael Jones, has a history of suing on behalf of clients or threatening lawsuits against a number of Wasatch Front cities, including Riverton, Bluffdale, South Jordan, Tooele and West Valley City, Deseret Morning News archives show.
Baird, who describes himself as a "rabble-rousing Democrat," and Curtis, a life-long active Republican, may be seen as strange bedfellows. But Baird says "its just good lawyering" to pick up Curtis, the former legal counsel to outgoing Republican Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman and a former West Jordan city attorney. Curtis knows local government law, said Baird, and is a fine attorney.
He resigned as Workman's counsel last spring, a causalty of the county's upper-eschelon troubles with county cars and mileage reimbursements.
"I don't see any potential conflicts because (the law firm) will not be lobbying the Legislature," Curtis said. He added that he "won't be handling any clients in the upcoming session; too busy."
Nevertheless, Curtis concedes he may be doing some "overflow" work for Hutchings, Baird & Jones — drafting legal papers, for example — during the 45-day general legislative session.
After the 2005 Legislature adjourns in early March, Curtis said he anticipates averaging 24 hours a week with the firm, spending the rest of his time in speakership and legislative duties.
While there may be no direct conflicts of interest, the Utah House speaker is seen as one of the three most powerful people in state government, along with the governor and Senate president. And having a sitting speaker who himself, or through his firm, sues local governments could be interesting.
Like Curtis, Senate president-elect John Valentine, R-Orem, is also an attorney. He practices as a tax expert with a local Orem law firm.
Come January, for the first time anyone can remember the top two legislators are attorneys who either individually or through their firms could be hired out, raising the question of "secret" conflicts of interest should the men decline to name their clients.
Valentine has told the Deseret Morning News that as president he'll continue his practice of not naming clients. He will declare conflicts of interest from the floor and in committee as votes are taken on bills that could directly impact one of his clients, as current legislative rules require.
Curtis says he'll disclose the names of his clients if the clients don't ask for attorney/client privilege. And in any case, Curtis said he'll declare conflicts as votes arise.
But Curtis' joining Hutchings, Baird & Jones has a bit of a twist, for the partners' histories — both in civil litigation, on behalf of big developers, and in politics — are unique.
Baird, a hard-charging Democrat, ran for Congress in the 3rd District in 1984 and for the state Senate in 1982, losing both races. He's been a national party delegate, active in county and state party activities. His brother, Brian Baird, is a Democratic U.S. congressman from the state of Washington.
Besides his own races, Bruce Baird has worked on a number of high-profile Democratic campaigns, lashing out at Republicans along the way.
"I worked for Ted Wilson, Palmer DePaulis, for Pig (Frank Pignanelli), all in Salt Lake City mayor's races. I've worked for Dave Jones" in both his Salt Lake City mayoral and legislative races.
Baird currently writes a monthly column for City Weekly newspaper, in which he takes out after powerful Utahns right and left, and is a guest commentator on ABC 4's local weekly current affairs program hosted by Chris Vanocur.
Baird says he has no work pending before the Legislature, but he did serve on a legislative land development task force that gave its report to lawmakers last October.
"Basically, I hate the current code" on state land development and open space, Baird said. The task force, "was an honest effort" to fix some of the problems.
Baird says his two law partners, Hutchings and Jones, "are not political." But Hutchings has sued a number of local cities over disputed zoning issues, including a $10 million suit against Riverton City.
Curtis said as an attorney for Hutchings, Baird & Jones, he may well appear before some local county commissions or city councils representing developer clients, and in some cases, disputes may end up in court with him suing local governments. But he doesn't see that as a conflict with being speaker, a post he'll hold at least through 2006.
"It is no different than if you were a personal injury lawyer and your client got run over by a county garbage truck, or you were a criminal attorney and your client was charged with a crime" by a local city prosecutor. Said Curtis: "Being in court is what attorneys do."
E-mail: bbjr@desnews.com